9:30AM The London benchmark FTSE 100 declines, following U.S. futures down.
The FTSE 100 in London declined 1.4 points, or 0.02%, to 6,155.4 in early afternoon on Friday.

Advancers

Pearson, the media group that owns the Financial Times, advanced 1.7%, its highest level since April. The advance was sparked by Goldman Sachs, which encouraged clients to buy ahead of the trading update of Pearson.

ITV ignored a profits warning from SMG, as talks of a private equity bid continued to emerge. Its shares improved 0.9%. Despite a profits warning from US rival Martin Marietta, building materials group Hanson gained 1.3%. Rumours of a private interest helped bookmaker Ladbrokes gain 3%

Decliners

SMG was down 26% and Corus slid 1.4% after the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker recommended an offer from Tata Steel of India. Next was also under pressure, falling 1.4% on further worries about tough trading.

Wolfson Microelectronics was in focus. Its shares slumped 37% after the chip designer warned full-year revenues would fall short of expectations because of a glut of consumer electronics goods. The Wolfson warning impacted fellow chip designer CSR, which was down 3%.

Other news

UK public borrowing hit 7 billion pounds in September, leaving the Treasury with much ground to make up if it is to reach its Budget public finance forecasts this financial year.

7:30AM Strong U.S. close and oil production cuts led Asia to a broad rise.
Asian markets finished broadly higher on Friday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.61% to finish at 16651.63. Canon gained 0.93% and Toyota added 1.47%. Machinery maker Komatsu climbed 1.83%, while Nippon Steel reported a 0.81% gain. Sony, however, shed 0.83% after the company revised its earnings forecast downward due to troubles with laptop batteries and delays at its games unit.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.7% to end at 18113.55. The China Enterprises Index was up 0.4% to 7,469.80. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3% a day after mainland authorities announced that GDP growth was 10.4% in the third quarter, down from 11.3% annualized growth it the second quarter.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 1% at 5335.4. South Korea Kospi index advanced 0.8% and Singapore Straits Times Index was up 0.2%. Taiwan''s Taiex index rose 0.5% and Malaysia KLSE Composite traded nearly flat. Shares traded in New Zealand were lower 0.2%. Indonesia Jakarta Composite Index declined 0.1%.

6:30AM European stocks advance on oil cuts and strong overnight U.S. finish.
European markets were higher by mid-morning on Friday. The U.K. FTSE 100 gained 0.44% at 6,183.30, the German DAX 30 rose 0.4% at 6,204.16, the French CAC 40 advanced 0.5% at 5,384.01.

Advancers

BP and Royal Dutch Shell each advanced 1%, boosted by the unexpected oil production cut by OPEC. Shares of PartyGaming gained 1.6%, following its statement that in the few days since U.S. customers were prevented from accessing the real money sites, average daily gross revenue of the non-U.S. facing business has been 2% below that of the third quarter.

Valeo, a French auto parts maker, also gained after recent slips. Valeo shares jumped 6.8% after it reported that its quarterly profit sank76%. Valeo agreed on a memorandum of understanding to sell its electrical motors and actuators unit for an undisclosed price.

Decliners

Corus Group declined 1.5% as investors were disapponted that it gave its agreement to be bought by Tata Steel for 4.3 billion pounds ($8 billion). Wolfson Microelectronics, a Scottish chipmaker producing chips for the iPod music device of Apple Computer, fell 30% after registering a build-up of inventory in consumer electronics products, leading to a fourth-quarter revenue guidance between $52 million and $57 million.

Oil and gold

Crude oil for November delivery advanced 40 cents to $58.90 a barrel in on the NYME. December Brent crude on London ICE Futures exchange rose 33 cents to $61.20 a barrel.